Minimum wage climbs July 1

SPRINGFIELD — Workers earning the minimum wage can look forward to a dollar-an-hour boost starting July 1, followed by quarter-an-hour increases each year for the next three years.

One of eight laws effective July 1 will hike the state’s minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.50 an hour, plus increase the rate 25 cents each year until it hits $8.25 an hour in 2010.

The federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour.

Labor groups applaud the Democratic governor’s initiative, but business interests complain the higher minimum wage puts Illinois businesses at a disadvantage compared with other Midwestern states. This state’s minimum wage of $7.50 will be higher than surrounding states Indiana ($5.15), Iowa ($6.20), Kentucky ($5.15), Missouri ($6.50) and Wisconsin ($6.50), according to an AFL-CIO analysis.

The states with the highest minimum wage are Washington ($7.93), Oregon ($7.80) and Connecticut ($7.65), the analysis shows.

To soothe business concerns, the new Illinois law will allow employers to pay some employees during their first 90 days on the job, as well as workers under the age of 18, a wage that is not “more than 50 cents less than the wage” they must otherwise pay.

However, businesses must pay the standard minimum wage to employees classified as day or temporary workers, under a separate law effective July 1.

The upcoming wage hike is the second since Gov. Rod Blagojevich took office in January 2003. Early in his first term, Blagojevich approved increasing the rate to $6.50 from $5.15 an hour.

“People working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year earning minimum wage bring home just $13,000,” Blagojevich said in a statement last November, when lawmakers agreed to the latest wage hike. “That’s just not enough. Raising the minimum wage will make it a little easier for these families to get by.”

Other laws effective July 1 will:

Require motorists convicted of driving without insurance to lose their licenses for three months. And if a motorist whose license is suspended for driving without insurance is caught driving without insurance during that period of suspension, then the person’s licence will be suspended for an additional six months. Current law does not require a suspension for driving without insurance, but it does impose a fine of up to $1,000 for the first offense.

Require the state to cancel the driver’s licenses or permits of minors classified by local school districts as dropouts or chronic truants — absent at least 10 percent of the previous semester.

Require the state to regulate tattoo and body piercing parlors. The Illinois Department of Public Health will inspect sterilization and sanitation at the facilities to ensure they comply with the standards and determine whether they qualify for state certification. The facilities will be required to renew their certification every year. Proponents say the law is designed to increase the number of potential blood donors by allowing people to donate blood within a year of getting tattoos or piercings. Blood banks may turn away prospective donors with tattoos or piercings from unregulated facilities.

Staff writer Aaron Chambers may be reached at 217-782-2959 or achambers@rrstar.com.

New laws

Eight new laws are effective July 1. Among the highlights, the laws will:

Hike the state’s minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.50 an hour, plus increase the rate 25 cents each year until it hits $8.25 an hour in 2010. The federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour.

Require motorists convicted of driving without insurance to lose their licenses for three months.

Require the state to cancel the driver’s licenses or permits of minors classified by local school districts as dropouts or chronic truants — absent at least 10 percent of the previous semester.

Require the state to regulate tattoo and body piercing parlors.

Require the Department of Employment Security to maintain a Web site that allows job seekers to search online for government job opportunities.

Require the Illinois Advisory Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependency to help coordinate among state agencies programs to reduce alcoholism and drug addiction.